Cholera in Rumonge : at least 7 Congolese refugees dead in two weeks

SOS Médias Burundi

Rumonge, December 23, 2025 – A deadly cholera epidemic has struck the port city of Rumonge in southwestern Burundi. In the past two weeks, at least seven Congolese refugees have died, while thousands more live in extremely precarious conditions.

The humanitarian situation is becoming increasingly dire in the port city of Rumonge, where a massive influx of Congolese refugees far exceeds local capacity. According to local authorities, of the more than 25,000 Congolese refugees received since the beginning of December, more than 10,000 remain in Rumonge, while the others have been transferred to various camps in the interior of the country, which are also suffering from a critical lack of resources.

Unsuitable reception sites

In Rumonge, refugees are spread across four temporary sites.

None of these sites meets minimum humanitarian standards.

The refugees live crammed together, often under the open sky, without sufficient access to drinking water, latrines, or healthcare. This situation fosters the rapid spread of waterborne diseases, particularly cholera, but also malaria and diarrheal diseases.

An alarming health situation

At a meeting held on Monday, December 22, 2025, local authorities alerted local, national, and international public opinion to the seriousness of the situation. The local official, Augustin Minani, confirmed that seven cholera-related deaths had been recorded out of approximately ten cases identified in the past two weeks.

He emphasized that the port city of Rumonge is overwhelmed, both financially and logistically, and lacks the necessary resources to cope with this large-scale humanitarian crisis.

Urgent appeal for aid

Faced with this situation, local authorities are making an urgent appeal to bankers, businesses, national and international organizations, churches, and other benefactors to contribute financially, particularly to ensure the transport of refugees to a camp located in eastern Burundi, in Buhumuza province.

In Rumonge, the refugees lack everything: food, drinking water, medicine, shelter, clothing, and other essential needs. Their health situation remains extremely worrying, with a high risk of the epidemic worsening if urgent measures are not taken.

Aid still insufficient

Last weekend, the Catholic Diocese of Bururi provided humanitarian assistance to the refugees. However, according to local authorities, this aid remains woefully inadequate given the scale of the needs, which they described as “a drop in the ocean.”

A regional crisis fueling the exodus

The current wave of Congolese refugees is directly linked to the intensification of hostilities in South Kivu, marked by the capture of several towns and cities, including Uvira, which fell to the M23 on the night of December 9-10, 2025. The city is located just a few kilometers from Bujumbura, Burundi’s commercial capital, where the United Nations agencies and the central government are concentrated.

Reactivated in 2021, the M23, composed primarily of Congolese Tutsis, controls several strategic locations in North and South Kivu, including the provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu, as well as key mining areas, such as the Rubaya region in Masisi territory, one of the world’s largest coltan deposits. This mineral provides a significant portion of the world’s tantalum, essential to the electronics industry and new technologies.

The movement is part of the Congo River Alliance (AFC), led by Corneille Nangaa, former president of the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), which advocates for a federal state. Kinshasa accuses Kigali of supporting the M23, while Rwanda denounces the alleged support of the DRC and Burundi for the FDLR, a Rwandan Hutu armed group whose members are accused of participating in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis.

Since March 2023, Burundi has deployed more than 10,000 soldiers to the DRC to support the FARDC and the local Wazalendo militias, adding a regional dimension to an already explosive conflict and fueling the massive influx of refugees into the small east African nation.

Toll across Burundi

Around thirty Congolese refugees have died of cholera across Burundi, in four temporary sites and one refugee camp, over the past two weeks, according to a count by SOS Médias Burundi.